By Aijaz Alam
What percentage of small businesses have a website?
83% of US small businesses have a website, according to Clutch's survey of 406 owners on 5 August 2025, up from 64% in Clutch's 2018 survey. The last official count is older and lower: 55.0% of US employer firms had a website in 2016, in the Census Bureau's Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs, up from 52.8% in 2014.
- 83%US small businesses with a websiteClutch, 406 owners, 5 Aug 2025
- 55.0%US employer firms with a website (official)Census Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs, 2016
- 64%Share with a website in 2018Clutch, as cited in its 2025 report
- 34%Of those without a site: 'not relevant to my industry'Clutch, Aug 2025; 16% cite cost
The numbers
The full breakdown
Small business websites in 2025 (Clutch survey, 5 Aug 2025)
| Finding | Share | Asked of |
|---|---|---|
| Have a website | 83% | All owners |
| Have no website | 17% | All owners |
| Launched a website in the past year | 12% | All owners |
| Use website builder platforms such as Wix, Squarespace, WordPress or Shopify | 75% | All owners |
| Sell directly online | 87% | Businesses with a website |
| Search engine optimization is the top source of leads | 40% | Businesses with a website |
406 US small business owners, SurveyMonkey poll on 5 August 2025, with quotas for a balanced demographic mix. Clutch does not define 'small business' in its methodology.
Why small businesses without a website have not built one
| Reason | Share of businesses without a website |
|---|---|
| Not relevant to my industry | 34% |
| Cost (2025) | 16% |
| Cost (2018, Clutch data) | 26% |
| Any reason other than cost | 84% |
Clutch, Aug 2025. Base: the 17% of owners with no website.
How small businesses built their websites
| Method | Share |
|---|---|
| No-code builder (such as Wix or Squarespace) | 41% |
| Low-code platform (such as WordPress or Shopify) | 34% |
| Custom full-code development | 12% |
| Outsourced to an agency | 45% |
| Built in-house | 37% |
| Built by the owner | 9% |
| Outsourced to a freelancer or consultant | 9% |
| Built by a friend or family member | 1% |
Clutch, Aug 2025. The first three rows are the platform used; the last five are who built the site. Base not stated; presumably businesses with a website. Clutch's summary elsewhere on the page counts in-house and owner-built together as 46%.
US employer firms with a website, by industry (Census, 2016)
| Industry (NAICS sector) | Had a website | Standard error |
|---|---|---|
| All sectors | 55.0% | 0.5 |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting | 21.3% | 1.7 |
| Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction | 25.5% | 3.5 |
| Utilities | 44.1% | 8.6 |
| Construction | 44.6% | 0.6 |
| Manufacturing | 71.4% | 1.0 |
| Wholesale trade | 60.5% | 1.3 |
| Retail trade | 55.7% | 1.0 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 31.1% | 1.6 |
| Information | 76.3% | 1.2 |
| Finance and insurance | 64.1% | 0.7 |
| Real estate and rental and leasing | 48.8% | 0.6 |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | 61.4% | 0.4 |
| Management of companies and enterprises | 71.1% | 8.0 |
| Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services | 53.2% | 0.9 |
| Educational services | 82.8% | 0.8 |
| Health care and social assistance | 57.7% | 0.5 |
| Arts, entertainment, and recreation | 62.9% | 1.0 |
| Accommodation and food services | 52.8% | 0.6 |
| Other services (except public administration) | 50.2% | 0.4 |
| Industries not classified | 10.8% | 1.0 |
US Census Bureau, Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs 2016, table ASECB2016.SE1600CSCB22. Firms with paid employees only. Shares are of firms that answered the website question (3,484,503 of 5,601,758 employer firms); the standard error is in percentage points.
US employer firms with a website, by years in business (Census, 2016)
| Years in business | Had a website | Standard error |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 2 years | 50.7% | 0.4 |
| 2 to 3 years | 53.5% | 0.5 |
| 4 to 5 years | 55.4% | 0.7 |
| 6 to 10 years | 55.3% | 0.5 |
| 11 to 15 years | 54.2% | 0.4 |
| 16 years or more | 56.6% | 0.7 |
US Census Bureau, Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs 2016, table ASECB2016.SE1600CSCB22, all sectors. Shares are of firms in each group that answered the website question.
Over time
US employer firms with a website, every Census survey year
| Year | Had a website | Standard error | Firms with a website |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 52.8% | 0.5 | 2,062,950 |
| 2015 | 54.0% | 0.5 | 1,922,236 |
| 2016 | 55.0% | 0.5 | 1,915,042 |
US Census Bureau, Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs, tables ASECB2014.SE1400CSCB22, ASECB2015.SE1500CSCB22 and ASECB2016.SE1600CSCB22 (all sectors, all firms). Shares are of firms that answered the question. The survey ran only for reference years 2014 to 2016; there is no newer official figure. Clutch's 64% (2018) and 83% (2025) come from a different, much smaller survey and are not part of this series.
Why sources differ
Same question, different answers
| Number | When | Who measured | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 83% | Aug 2025 | Clutch survey of 406 small business owners | One-day online poll; owner says the business has a website; no definition of a small business |
| 64% | 2018 | Clutch, as cited in its 2025 report | Earlier Clutch survey; its sample was not checked |
| 55.0% | 2016 | US Census Bureau, Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs | About 290,000 sampled employer firms; share of firms that answered; owners with no employees not covered |
| 52.8% | 2014 | US Census Bureau, Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs | Same survey, first year |
The two sources measure different things, nine years apart. Clutch's 83% comes from a single-day SurveyMonkey poll of 406 owners in August 2025. It does not define a small business, and Clutch earns money from connecting businesses with web design agencies. The Census Bureau's 55.0% comes from the Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs, which sampled about 290,000 employer businesses and asked whether the business had a website in 2016. It covers only firms with paid employees, so owners who work alone are not in it, and it was last run for 2016, so it cannot show what happened after cheap website builders spread. Some of the gap is likely real growth: the Census share rose by about one point a year from 2014 to 2016. Our reading: the rest likely comes from who answers. Owners who take an online poll are more likely to run their business online, which would push Clutch's share up. The 64% for 2018 comes from an earlier Clutch survey whose sample was not checked, so the rise from 64% to 83% is a rough direction, not a precise trend.
What it means
How to use these numbers
Most small businesses have a website, but how many depends on who you ask and when. Clutch's August 2025 poll puts it at 83%, up from 64% in its 2018 survey, a rise Clutch links to cheap no-code and low-code builders, which 75% of the owners it surveyed use. The last official count, from the Census Bureau, found that 55.0% of US employer firms had a website in 2016.
Industry matters more than firm age. In the Census data, 82.8% of educational services firms and 71.4% of manufacturers had a site, against 44.6% in construction and 21.3% in agriculture, while firms under two years old (50.7%) were only a little behind those in business for 16 years or more (56.6%). Among Clutch's owners without a site, 34% say it is not relevant to their industry and only 16% blame cost.
If you run a local business without a website, you are in a minority that has been shrinking, and customers who search for you may find a competitor first. Treat the exact share as a range, not a precise count.
Method and sources
How it was measured
Method
- Publisher
- Clutch (clutch.co), 'Small Business Websites in 2025: Growth, Gaps, and Where to Invest Next', updated 23 April 2026
- Sample
- 406 US small business owners aged 18 to 99, surveyed on 5 August 2025 through SurveyMonkey; 54% male, 46% female; quotas for a balanced demographic mix
- Definition
- Owner says the business has a website. Clutch does not define a small business.
- Released
- 21 August 2025; page updated 23 April 2026
- Official source
- US Census Bureau, Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE), run with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Minority Business Development Agency for reference years 2014, 2015 and 2016
- Census sample
- About 290,000 employer businesses; firms with paid employees only. Shares are of firms that answered the website question (3,484,503 of 5,601,758 firms in 2016)
- Checked at source
- 31 October 2026 on the Clutch report page; 1 November 2026 in Census tables ASECB2014.SE1400CSCB22, ASECB2015.SE1500CSCB22 and ASECB2016.SE1600CSCB22 on data.census.gov
- Next release
- Clutch: not announced. Census: none; the ASE covered only reference years 2014 to 2016
- Last changed
- 1 Nov 2026
- Data files
- CSV · JSON (stable links)
Sources
- The State of Small Business Websites in 2025, Clutch Vendor data
- Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs, US Census Bureau Official data
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FAQ
More questions people ask
Which industries are least likely to have a website?
In the Census Bureau's 2016 survey of employer firms, agriculture (21.3%), mining (25.5%) and transportation and warehousing (31.1%) had the lowest shares with a website. Educational services (82.8%), information (76.3%) and manufacturing (71.4%) had the highest.
Why do some small businesses still not have a website?
In Clutch's 2025 survey, 34% of owners without a website said it is not relevant to their industry. Only 16% named cost, down from 26% in 2018.
How do small businesses build their websites?
41% used no-code builders such as Wix or Squarespace, 34% low-code platforms such as WordPress or Shopify, and 12% custom code. 45% outsourced the work to an agency and 37% built in-house (Clutch, 2025).
Where do small businesses without a website get customers?
Mostly from referrals. Clutch found referrals were the most effective source of new business for 39% of small businesses without a website, ahead of e-commerce marketplaces (12%) and organic social media (11%).
Every number on this page was checked at its original source (Clutch, US Census Bureau). Free to cite with a link to this page.